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AZ: State Prepares to Kick Straight Unmarried Partners Off Healthcare Plan

Friday, December 24th, 2010

On Jan. 1, Arizona will cut off health-care benefits to about 600 heterosexual, unmarried domestic partners of state employees.

Gov. Jan Brewer and the Legislature made the benefit change as part of budget cuts in 2009. They intended to eliminate benefits for a much broader group, including adult children and gay partners of state employees.

However, the new federal health-care law and a court ruling have forced the state to continue covering those groups, leaving opposite-sex partners the only class impacted by the cuts.

Full Story from AZ Central

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TX: Cancellation of Health Benefits in El Paso on Hold Pending Trial

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

The City of El Paso has moved the lawsuit titled Ronald G. Martin, Jr., et. al. vs. The City of El Paso, Texas; Cause No. 2010-4936, from the State Court to Federal Court. U.S. District Court Judge Frank Montalvo has extended the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from December 29, 2010 to January 13, 2011 at 9:00 a.m., when a preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled to take place.

Due to the TRO, the City of El Paso has advised those employees/retirees who previously received letters cancelling their coverage because of the ordinance that they will not see a benefit change at this time. The City will continue to keep them informed concerning this litigation and what impact it has on their benefits.

At El Paso City Council’s meeting this past Tuesday, City Council skipped a compromise in the battle for benefits of domestic partners, because of a judge’s restraining order, paving the way for the lawsuit against the city by some slated to lose their health insurance.

Full Story from KVIA

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Lesbian Federal Worker’s Case for Benefits Before US District Court

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

A federal employee finds herself in the odd position of suing the U.S. government because it’s refusing to provide health insurance to her same-sex spouse. Her boss, a federal judge, calls it discrimination.

At issue is whether married same-sex couples who work for the federal government are entitled to enroll their spouses onto their healthcare plan.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals worker Karen Golinski of San Francisco has been trying for two years to get her wife, Amy Cunninghis, onto her medical insurance. They were married in 2008 when same-sex marriages were briefly legal in California.

Full Story from ABC

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MI: Plan for Health Coverage of Same Sex Partners Tabled

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

The Michigan Civil Service Commission has postponed action on a proposal that would have allow same-sex partners or other adults living with state employees to be covered by state-paid health insurance.

The administration of Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm had been pushing a plan Wednesday that would have allocated nearly $6 million next year to extend health insurance benefits to unmarried same-sex partners of state employees, plus the partner’s dependents.

However the commission delayed action on the proposal after hearing concern about a lack of clarity in agreements between the Office of State Employer and employee unions.

Full Story from Lez Get Real

Click here for gay marriage resources in Michigan.

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AR: Eureka Springs Adds Health Coverage for Domestic Partners

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Eureka Springs Domestic Partner BenefitsEureka Springs, Ark., long known as a gay tourist destination, has become the first city in the state to offer health benefits to the domestic partners of municipal employees, according to a press release we received Monday: The only city in Arkansas with a Domestic Partnership Registry today became the first city in the state to provide health care coverage for the domestic partners of municipal workers.

The city’s insurance provider, the Arkansas Municipal League, notified the city that beginning January 1, 2011 both same- and opposite-sex partners of city workers will have the same access to health insurance as legal spouses.

The announcement culminated a year-long campaign by residents of the Northwest Arkansas tourist town which in June 2007 became the first city in the state to enact a Domestic Partnership Registry ordinance to officially recognize unmarried couples in committed relationships.

Full Story from the Dallas Voice

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PA: Allentown Considering Benefits for Partners of Gay/Lesbian Employees

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Allentown may soon be the second city in the state to offer health benefits to partners of gay employees. A bill extending the employee benefits to same-sex couples was expected to be introduced last Wednesday, but was pulled at the last minute after the city’s solicitor’s office expressed some concerns over language in the bill.

City Council has declined to release the legal opinion, citing lawyer-client privilege. However, council President Michael D’Amore, a sponsor of the bill, said the legal concerns are technical, and he expects to introduce the bill as early as the next meeting, Oct. 20. Currently, only employees and their dependents – spouses and children – can be enrolled in the city’s self-insured health benefit program.

One of the issues raised by the solicitor’s office, says city Councilwoman Jeanette Eichenwald, is language in the bill that could trigger lawsuits from heterosexual employees who are unmarried but in committed relationships. These employees, like gay employees, cannot add their partners to their health plans, Eichenwald said.

Full Story from The Morning Call

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Google to Pay Extra Tax on Health Benefits for Gay/Lesbian Employees

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Google Gay Health BenefitsBeginning today Google will cover the added tax charged to LGBT employees whose partners are covered by their insurance plan.

“It’s a fairly cutting edge thing to do,” said Todd A. Solomon, a partner in the employee benefits department of McDermott Will & Emery, a law firm in Chicago, and author of “Domestic Partner Benefits: An Employer’s Guide.”

Google is not the first company to make up for the extra tax. At least a few large employers already do. But benefits experts say Google’s move could inspire its Silicon Valley competitors to follow suit, because they compete for the same talent.

Full Story from Joe.My.God

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US: New Study Shows Link Between Gay Marriage Bans, Lack of Health Insurance

Friday, June 25th, 2010

A new study co-authored by Lambda Legal and the UCLA School of Public Health finds a close correlation between state and federal marriage discrimination against same-sex couples and disparities in health coverage between married heterosexuals and partnered gay men and lesbians.

The study, released today in the online edition of the leading journal Health Affairs, found that partnered lesbians are only 28 percent as likely as married heterosexual couples to receive healthcare coverage for a partner through an employer. Gay men are 42 percent as likely.

The study also found that these disparities are not remedied by other insurance options. Instead, lesbians and gay men are twice as likely as their straight coworkers to have uninsured life partners, which puts strains on personal health, family finances and public services. Same-sex couples – even if legally married or in a registered domestic partnership – often face discriminatory barriers to coverage within employers’ plans, and when they can participate, the federal and most state governments tax those benefits as earned income.

Full Story from Insurance News Net

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MD: Annapolis Extends Benefits to Partners of Gay/Lesbian City Employees

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Mayor Josh Cohen has extended employment benefits to the same-sex partners of Annapolis’ workers, giving them access to medical plans. Under the new city rules taking effect July 1, the same-sex partners of city employees can enroll in city-offered medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits. Those benefits do not extend to unmarried heterosexual couples.

Only same-sex partners are eligible for the domestic partnership benefit option because they don’t have the ability to marry in Maryland. The city’s policy comes months after state employees and retirees and their same-sex domestic partners were allowed to enroll in benefit programs.

“This is very exciting and it’s a move in the right direction towards equality in Maryland. And it’s appropriate because it’s the seat of our government,” said Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director for Equality Maryland, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Marylanders.

Full Story from the SF Examiner

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Lambda Legal Suing Openly Gay Obama Official in Health Benefits Case

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

You just can’t make this stuff up. From Lambda Legal, the gay ACLU:

Lambda Legal today filed a brief in federal district court in San Francisco on behalf of our client, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals staff lawyer Karen Golinski, who has been litigating to get equal health benefits for her wife since the fall of 2008. … (T)he Ninth Circuit’s personnel policies prohibit sexual orientation discrimination and require employees to file all discrimination complaints within the court’s dispute resolution process rather than going directly to court. Karen has followed that procedure diligently.

Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has issued four orders in Karen’s case directing that the federal courts’ Administrative Office process the paperwork to enroll Golinski’s wife in Golinski’s family insurance plan, but the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) consistently has blocked the enrollment. Kozinski repeatedly has ordered OPM to stop interfering with this Judicial Branch personnel matter, but OPM has both defied those orders and declined to participate in the court’s mandatory complaint process. Kozinski ruled last December that OPM’s persistent choice not to participate in the court’s process means the agency has waived its chance to object to his analysis and orders.

Full Story from AmericaBlog

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